


You Laughed, Will it Rain Tomorrow?

by VaultBot



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Mortal, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaultBot/pseuds/VaultBot
Summary: Annabeth had never liked the rain her entire life, but maybe, she was okay with having the man with the sea-green eyes change that. AU.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 54





	You Laughed, Will it Rain Tomorrow?

**Author's Note:**

> Not Even Giving in to the Sudden Rain.
> 
> Hope you enjoy! My broken brain forgot how posting on this site worked haha

What was there to like about the rain?

It was honestly kinda gross. Annabeth couldn’t help but think of all of the nasty pollution and other effects that severely lowered the pH of the rainwater here in New York. Let alone how she didn’t have an umbrella around either - she shared an umbrella with Piper and her roommate was the early bird between them, which meant that the blonde was left to wear a raincoat and grumble her way to her architectural firm on the days she had to go in. One day, she’d buy a new umbrella. When she remembered to.

Of course, it was also raining in Richmond when she found out her parents divorced at the tender age of four. Raining on the day her father remarried to Helen in San Francisco, a year later. Raining on the day she found out she had failed a midterm in college, which was the first and last time she ever failed anything academically in her life. Nothing good ever came out of days when there was rain. And sure enough, it was _raining_ today.

Somehow, Piper had convinced her into going to a show at the aquarium on this dreary Saturday morning. Overcast, a light drizzle, and the aquarium decided not to cover up the dome of the performance area in order to make it more _immersive_ or something. All she could feel was dirty water hitting her skin and seeing the overcast clouds made everything seem all the more gloomier. The woman beside her seemed to have noticed her less than impressed expression, as Annabeth started looking at some old photos on her phone.

“You’re always cooped up in our apartment! This is healthier for you, it’s not even raining that much. Besides, I know the guy who’s filling in for the show today - he’s really hot, you know!” Piper exclaimed.

She always did believe in the sentiment of _glass half full_.

Annabeth snorted at that. Piper’s taste in men and her own taste in men was wildly different. Her best friend went for the all-american, golden boy types. Annabeth herself didn’t really have a preference, although she always did like tall, especially because she was just as tall as a lot of men, if not taller at 5’11. It was a little shallow of her, she had to admit. But she tended to scare off most guys with her height. Or maybe it was her piercing silver eyes. Well it wasn’t really like she could even have a dating preference anyways, she really only had one serious boyfriend her entire life, and Luke had passed away just last year.

They were drifting apart anyways. Although she mourned his death, Annabeth was pretty sure both of them were thinking about calling it quits in their relationship. He clearly fell out of love with her by the end, and the novelty of landing her dream guy back in college had worn off and had been a bit of a _expectations vs reality_ shock. Even if Luke was a nice guy and very attractive, he did some shady stuff on the side, being affiliated with a gang and whatnot. His heart was in the right place though, which was why she couldn’t bring herself to break up with him on the spot when she found out. It strained their relationship, though. Annabeth never really bothered putting much more effort in finding a new boyfriend after, much to Piper's disappointment.

That reminded her, it was _raining_ on that day too.

“Trust me, I’ve learned better than to trust you with things like my _love life._ Remember all of those blind dates you tried setting me up on…?” Annabeth deadpanned.

“Okay, whatever you say, _Beth_. Also, don’t judge if he messes up in the show a bit. He was told yesterday that he was supposed to take over for this morning. He’s also a bit of a dork, so I could totally see him doing a _freudian slip_.”

“Great. So you dragged me here for low quality entertainment from one of your friends - I could’ve just rewatched a season of _The Bachelor_ or something, you know!” Annabeth groaned.

“Give him a chance - who knows! He always was the funniest guy at get-togethers. Other than Leo, but I haven’t seen that guy in ages.”

“Didn’t he settle back down in Houston, or something?”

“Yup. Got a girlfriend, if you can believe that.”

The show seemed like it was getting ready to start. The water was turning different colours from the fluorescent lights underneath, while the lone platform in the middle of the pool began glowing. Soon, a man popped out of the water, diving onto the small platform in the centre of the stage as a few bottlenose dolphins sailed across and overhead of him.

That was shocking to her - she’d never seen a person dive out of the water like a dolphin before. It was clean too, timing everything perfectly to keep the focus on them, and not him.

Of course, Annabeth, along with many other women in the crowd, noticed just how attractive the guy was. Piper had gotten them fairly good seats, and so she could clearly see his messy jet-black hair, his lean frame and had a very relaxed, surfer vibe to him. Something about him seemed familiar, though. Annabeth wasn’t sure what it exactly was - maybe she’d seen him somewhere before?

Annabeth could practically feel her best friend’s smirk as the blonde straightened up in her seat.

“What’s good, audience? Name’s Percy, and today, we’re doing it my way! I’m sure most of you came because of the dolphins - and I agree, they’re really cute. But before I go through some tricks, here are some things about them you should know, which makes what they’re about to do in this show even more cool…”

Percy started rattling off facts about bottlenose dolphins. He had a very convincing tone to him - she was pretty sure he would’ve made for an excellent salesman if he decided to go down that path. The excitement in his voice as he talked about them probably contributed to that - seemed he really liked the animals. Piper leaned over, whispering in her ear.

“He's a natural! If you told me that was the same Percy as the one I knew, I wouldn’t have believed you…” Piper whispered to her friend.

“How do you know him anyway? I know most of your other friends, but I’ve never met this one.”

“Ah. He was Jason’s cousin. The two of them were thick as thieves, actually.”

Annabeth dropped the matter. She wasn’t the only one between them who lost a boyfriend - Jason gave up his life to save people in a hostage scenario earlier this year. He always was a noble idiot; a small part of her selfishly wished that Jason put more value on his own life, although she thought of him as a hero for his actions.

The show was good entertainment. He led the dolphins through a dance, then the four of them started playing water volleyball with a beach ball, then with the audience, and after that he got the three dolphins to do a few jumping exercises. It was incredible to watch, honestly. He didn’t even need to use treats to accomplish what he wanted, it was almost like they could read his mind and followed what he wanted them to do.

He winked in their direction at one point - a few younger girls behind the pair thought he was doing it at them, although Annabeth could tell from his line of sight that it was for Piper, with her best friend rolling her eyes, muttering, “Dumbass…”

After getting all three dolphins to kiss him in succession, the mammals disappeared from the surface of the water, presumably heading back to where they typically lived in the aquarium.

“…And that about wraps it up! Thanks for coming out here this morning, I know the weather isn’t perfect today. Hope you enjoyed the show, and if you want to know more about dolphins or just want to see them again, come on down to their pool!”

Percy then gracefully dove into the water with a perfect arc, as he also disappeared from sight, just like the dolphins did.

“That’s our cue!” Piper exclaimed.

“Pardon?” Annabeth was confused.

“He gave me access to a backstage pass, so lets go talk to him! It’s been a couple of months since I’ve last seen him anyways, so I want to catch up.”

“…Fine.”

Annabeth couldn’t exactly deny that she was also interested in seeing him in the flesh, not that she would admit it out loud to Piper. He was a problem in her memory that she wanted to solve, right now.

The two of them made their way through the aquarium, flashing the big red card to employees as they traversed through the maze that was the New York Aquarium. Piper seemed to know where she was going, so Annabeth decided to trust her.

About ten minutes later, they finally found themselves by an outdoor pool, where Percy was looking down and feeding a couple of seals while still wearing his wetsuit, sitting on a rock by the pool. He had the most curious shade of sea-green eyes now that she got a closer look at him, and he was a lot taller than she originally thought, probably standing a few inches taller than she was. An infectious smile was written all over his face as he tossed some fish over to the baby seals. The animals looked happy being around him, playfully slapping their fins together and trying to catch their food.

Yup, definitely more attractive up close. It was hard not to notice his abs, now that she got an even closer look at him. Guess Piper was right, this time. Still though, being around him still wasn’t ringing any bells as to who he was. Maybe she was just misremembering things…

He didn’t look up when he started talking.

“What’s up, Piper? Should I have made my sign more obvious?”

“Percy! Good to see you, my dude. Also, absolutely not, you just made the day of a few high-schoolers. Brought my roomie with me, by the way,” Piper nodded towards Annabeth.

Percy turned in the blonde’s direction, eyes lighting up in recognition.

“Oh, the architect! Heard lots of stories about you.”

“All good things, I hope?” Annabeth questioned.

“I dunno. You the one who baked that brick of a cupcake for Piper’s birthday?”

Annabeth ears flushed pink as Percy chuckled good-naturedly. She didn’t realize Piper had shared the picture of that abomination she created.

“I kid, I kid. With food, I judge based on taste, not presentation. Not like I have the right to judge. Hell, I can barely cook pasta at home. I’m sure it tasted fine,” Percy attempted to reassure her.

“Really? Presentation is more important than you think, you know. Just like with design - which one are you going to gravitate towards first, when you see it?” Annabeth countered.

It was probably a mistake to do it in this scenario and a turn-off to most strangers from her personal experiences, but she loved talking about her passion. It didn’t really seem to bother him thankfully, brushing it off.

“Hm… never thought about it that way. Last impression always leaves the biggest mark for me.” Percy laughed, smiling like he was drunk on life.

His laugh was just as infectious as his smile - hard not to grin at him, even if they disagreed on that front. Piper on the other hand, was watching the scene unfold in front of her, squealing internally. Setting up her friends had never been easier!

Annabeth had a question, though. Another one, other than her curiosity as to whether they met before or not.

“How did you get the dolphins to obey you so well? Piper told me you had a day to prepare…”

Percy shrugged.

“I dunno. Marine animals always seem to trust me quickly, to the point where my colleagues call me the _fish whisperer_. I’m glad - makes my job a lot easier,” Percy nodded towards the cute little seals, who seemed to have perked up as his gaze fell on them. Annabeth wanted to pet them, but it was probably against the rules.

Percy then looked up at the sky - noting the darker clouds coming in from the horizon.

“Let’s take this inside, I think it’s going to rain harder soon.”

* * *

It was raining, when Annabeth found herself going to the Aquarium again the following weekend.

Piper had given her a knowing smile when Annabeth told her roommate she was heading out, though Piper couldn’t have known why. Right?

Well, maybe seeing him again was her primary objective.

A small part about him nagged at her throughout the week. She was certain that she had seen him somewhere before, although it may have just been the _Mandela effect_ kicking in. Still, something about him caused her to gravitate towards him; she wasn’t entirely sure why she couldn’t let this go.

Well, it didn’t hurt he was easy on the eyes. Or was easy to talk to, as well.

They hit it off fairly well last week after the three of them walked inside, heading to his office. To her surprise, he was a marine biologist who helped research and develop suitable environments for the animals at the aquarium. To be completely honest, she expected him to be an aquarist, judging by how well he got along with the dolphins and seals and what he implied earlier. Percy didn’t seem like a guy who’d want to be stuck in a lab scouring databases, although she could see him going out to the oceans for field work. It was impressive though, seeing all of the research, papers, and notes he had been doing on coral reefs among other environmental systems. She didn’t know a lick about biology either, so it was all gibberish to her. Crude and messy though - she didn’t know how Percy was able to find anything in his office.

They exchanged contact information, although she got busy with a project the following week, and he didn’t text her once during the week either.

It’d be kinda awkward, texting after a week of meeting each other. Annabeth decided to orchestrate a meeting instead. She heard through the grapevine that he came in to work on weekends too, so it wasn’t like Annabeth was spitballing.

Retracing her steps for the most part from last week, she found Percy observing and jotting down notes in front of him at an exhibition of sharks, while a little girl with auburn hair was tugging on his coat. Seeing Percy in a lab coat with a dress shirt and tie underneath was incredibly strange; from his laid-back and easy-going personality from last week, she expected him to dress casually on the job. Guess his job had a dress code, or something. Seeing him interact with the little girl as she tried to distract him from his work was also cute to watch too, although she began to wonder - was that his kid?

The girl noticed her presence just before he did, hiding behind Percy’s leg.

“Oh, hey, Annabeth! Come over here, good to see you.”

Annabeth apprehensively walked over, feeling like she interrupted some family bonding.

“I didn’t know you had a kid.”

“Not my kid, no way, I would’ve been like, eighteen or nineteen if I had her! I was in the prime of my life, back then. She’s my little sister, I’m watching her for today while our parents spend a day together. Say hi, Estelle!”

Annabeth felt relief somehow, as the girl peeked out, before hiding back behind his leg again.

“Oh, she’s a little shy with strangers. Come on, Annabeth’s a friend of mine, you can trust someone I know, right?” Percy coaxed.

That seemed to do the trick. The girl came out, considering Annabeth for a moment, before smiling.

“Hi!”

“Hey, Estelle. Mind telling me what your big brother is doing?” Annabeth asked the little kid with as friendly of a look she could muster, who looked mesmerized with her - was something on her face?

“Percy’s doing _boring_ stuff again! I bet he’ll stay here until midnight again. Can you play with me? Or get me something to eat?” Estelle whined.

“Hey, I promised I’d get you ice cream after! Just wait a few,” Percy called out, eyes fixed on a couple of the fish from beyond and scribbling something down on his clipboard.

“A few what? Days, months, years?” Estelle groaned, while Percy shook his head, scoffing.

Annabeth couldn’t help but grin at that - the kid was a smartass, that was for sure.

“Come on, Estelle. Let’s take a walk - tell me every embarrassing secret Percy has.” Annabeth squatted, eyes level with the girl.

“Okay!”

“Hey!” Percy finally snapped his head in their direction, although he didn’t end up following them.

Estelle grabbed her hand, before dragging Annabeth away from her older brother.

“Your eyes are really pretty!” She complimented.

“Aw, thanks!” Annabeth smiled at the young girl, who couldn’t have been much older than 6. Not many genuinely liked her eyes - they tended to intimidate most people. Well, there was that and the fact she apparently acted like a sullen, uptight, bitch around most strangers. Verbatim from Piper.

“Are you single? My brother needs a girlfriend, it’s been years since he last had one! I think he gets lonely, so he just hangs out with me and our parents when he’s not working.”

Annabeth paused momentarily, not expecting the little girl to just come out and say something like that. She already knew this fact from Piper, although hearing it from his sister was probably a more accurate source.

“Well, I am. I don’t know if your brother wants a girlfriend though. Some people are married to their job, you know.”

“Boo. You look like a princess! You’re like Rapunzel to Prince Eric! You have to at least try!” Estelle pleaded.

“Um, weren’t those two from different movies?” Annabeth asked, trying to deflect the question.

Truth be told, she wouldn’t mind getting to know him better, but she also didn’t get any vibes that he was particularly attracted to her from when they talked last week, since he seemed like a friendly guy in general. She would’ve hated to ruin the little girl’s perception of _love_ , so Annabeth decided this was the better approach.

“Yeah, but _The Little Mermaid_ is his favourite Disney movie. _Tangled_ is mine!” Estelle declared.

“Huh. I’ve always been a _Mulan_ kinda girl.”

Estelle walked her around the exhibits, doing her best to explain them, as adorable as could be. Annabeth liked the kid, she was extraordinarily bright for a six year old.

Nearly half an hour later, Percy walked up with 3 cones of ice cream. Annabeth didn’t expect him to buy her one as well.

“I got cookie dough, if that’s okay with you,” Percy nodded, passing the ice cream over.

“Fine with me, not like I’m in any position to complain.”

Estelle snagged her chocolate ice cream, before cheekily grinning at the two of them.

“I’m going to go eat over _there_ ,” Estelle giggled, pointing to one of the exhibitions.

“Sure thing, knock yourself out, kiddo. Just don’t go too far,” Percy replied before taking a seat on a nearby bench with his… blue ice cream? What flavour even was that?

Annabeth followed suit, as the girl’s eyes flickered between her older brother and Annabeth a little too obviously. She slowly backed away from them, her eyes still lasered in their direction. It was nice to know that his family member wanted this to happen, but she wasn’t even sure if he liked her or not. Thankfully, Percy seemed to have the perception of a bat, looking more interested in his snack.

“That was fast,” Percy snorted.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“Estelle must like you, she doesn’t really talk to many people she doesn’t know.”

“Could’ve fooled me, she’s an adorable ball of energy. Consider me honoured then.”

“Yup, she exhausts me when I look after her. Wonder if I was the same as a kid…?” Percy trailed off as he took a bite from his ice cream cone, before asking her a question.

“Any particular reason why you’re here? I didn’t know you liked the aquarium, from what I heard from Piper over the years, you’re a bit of a homebody,” Percy wondered aloud, a thoughtful look on his face.

It’d probably be a bit of a bad look if she said she wanted to see him again outright, so Annabeth decided to give a little white lie - everything she was about to say was technically the truth.

“Don’t ever believe a single word that comes out of her mouth, she’s just salty that I don’t have as much spare time as I used to, so I can’t really do as much with her. Anyways, I love the interiors of the place - there are some gorgeous ideas in here! I loved some of the ancient underwater aesthetics, really reminded me of Alexandria. Also, whose idea was it to build an undersea tunnel? I think it helps when you add some more fauna to the environment, it looks a little sparse on the bed where there’s no animals catching your attention. Speaking of which, I’d have loved to seen more regional influence - do more of a Caribbean and Central American motif for the sharks found there, maybe a Polynesian style for some of the turtles and other stingrays found in those areas…”

She realized she had been incoherently rambling at that point, by the way Percy was blinking confusedly.

“Piper’s right. You do act nerdy a lot. You sure I shouldn’t believe her?” Percy chortled.

“Excuse me!?”

“Oh, I meant that in the best way possible! I don’t meet many people who are this passionate about their field, I think it’s awesome! Not that I understood anything you said though…” Percy’s eyebrows were all scrunched up. He looked really cute at that moment, with the scientist get-up and all, but she decided to ignore that.

“Well, I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to understand a single thing in biology, so you have that on me.”

“I dunno about that even. Pretty sure I finished at one of the lowest marks in my class. You know what they say, C’s get degrees, and all that.”

“Really? I would’ve thought otherwise, with all the research and papers in your office.”

“Oh. Turns out researching topics that I’m interested in helps to stay focused and put in maximum effort, who would’ve thought? Not my profs. Anyways, the only reason why I passed most of my classes were because I was good at labs and the practical parts of class - trying to read and memorize information is a lot harder for me since I’m dyslexic. ADHD too.”

“…Really? No way, me too. Such a pain in the ass, having to deal with it. At least I know how to work around it now - took years for me to figure out a way to cope with it.”

“For both? Damn, you’re making me look bad!” Percy chuckled in a self-deprecating manner. She frowned at that.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, I don’t blame you at all. I probably would’ve been in the same position too, if I wasn’t so hellbent on becoming an architect.”

“I guess that’s true. I stopped putting in maximum effort in my classes a long time ago, probably back in Grade 9.”

Estelle suddenly ran up to them, having watched their exchange. She looked impatient at the blonde.

“Is _it_ done yet?”

“Nah, I’m not too sure if it’s working either. We’ll get ‘em next time,” Annabeth coyly smiled, the girl obviously wanting to know if the two of them had made any progress in their relationship.

Estelle’s cheeks puffed. “Well, try harder!”

Poor Percy. She’d never seen a guy look as lost as he did.

Annabeth stood up, not wanting things to be even more awkward than they were. She had a lot of fun this morning, at the very least.

“I should take my leave now - I’ll text you when I get home. Let’s actually talk this time, instead of just exchanging contact info...” Annabeth trailed off, a smile reaching her lips.

“Oh, absolutely! I get busy sometimes, lots of late nights working here. Don’t take it personally if I don’t respond right away,” Percy laughed.

“None taken.”

His laugh was different somehow, though Annabeth couldn’t quite put her finger on what it was. She took her leave and exited the building. It was still raining when she went over to enter her car, but for some reason, she didn’t really mind.

All the while, Estelle knew exactly what was different about his laugh. He sounded a lot happier than he normally did - she couldn’t wait until they actually started dating…

* * *

Annabeth was drinking earl grey in her favourite café on a rainy wednesday afternoon, a couple of weeks after.

Her job allowed her to work from home a lot, and she enjoyed drawing concepts outside of her room. Helped her draw better, when she had a bit of white noise in the background. Otherwise, her ADHD led her mind to wander a bit.

The rain put a slight damper to that plan though, since not that many people were around. Oh well, the deadline to present was next week anyways, she could afford to slack off a little right now.

Especially since she couldn’t have possibly expected Percy Jackson to walk in, humming a tune to himself.

Annabeth nearly did a spit-take as he nonchalantly walked up to the counter to order, not even recognizing the blonde’s presence at a table by the window.

They definitely talked much more after their second meeting together, acting something like friends to each other. They hadn’t physically met since then, though.

He was wearing a very unflattering, baggy blue raincoat with the hood covering up his normally tousled hair, although he still managed to make it work somehow. Suddenly, she felt a lot more self-conscious her current appearance. Annabeth had her hair tied up in a messy bun and was wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants - she was pretty sure he’d never seen her _not_ wearing a cardigan and skinny jeans.

Unfortunately, he noticed her as she was trying to fix up her hair by looking at the nearby window. Annabeth didn’t even notice he’d snuck up on her until she saw him in the reflection directly behind her.

“Boo.”

“I saw you when you walked in, you know.”

“Aw man, why didn’t you say anything? I might’ve missed you.”

“…Because it’s embarrassing, especially since no one’s around.”

“You’re no fun.”

Percy turned around to pick up his order - a hot chocolate with a blue cookie before coming back. What was it with him and _blue_?

“Mind if I sit here? Got some time to kill while my interns run some tests.”

“Sure. Slacking on the job? I can respect that.”

Percy took a seat in front of her, pulling off the hood of his raincoat.

“Ha-ha. Nah, they don’t need me for this one. They told me to go take a break; I’ve been trapped in the aquarium for almost 40 hours non-stop, trying to complete this project for the smaller schools of fish.”

Percy’s face changed from relaxed to sheepish as Annabeth’s went from relaxed to fuming.

“What!? Get some sleep!” Annabeth scolded.

“I will when I’m done. For now, I just need more caffeine. Then I finish this, before it’s lights out for me.”

Annabeth only just realized how droopy his eyes were, along with the heavy bags under his eyes. He honestly looked a little dead inside, like a zombie.

“You’re such a _seaweed brain_. Piper was right on the money with that, you _are_ a dumbass. You need rest - your efficiency probably dropped like a cliff after hour number twenty,” Annabeth lectured.

“And you’re such a _wise girl_. Piper’s always right, I stopped questioning that fact long ago. You’re probably right about that too. But this’ll help to improve their quality of life immensely, if we can finish this synthetic-”

“That’s not even an insult! That’s a compliment! Now go get some sleep.”

“Well, no you!” Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

Annabeth sighed. He really was a stubborn idiot, putting everyone and everything ahead of his own quality of life. She knew how much he cared about the animals from their talks, but this was dangerous for his own health. She supposed it must’ve ran in the family.

“Please tell me you didn’t drive here…”

“Of course not! I took the bus. It was how I ended up here, I didn’t know where I was going, I was just looking for something sweet to eat. Speaking of which, weird coincidence that you’re here too.”

“It’s a small world. Anyways, I’ll drive you back, then I’m driving you to your house. No buts.”

“We’ll see.”

“I’m serious. I’ll drag you back kicking and screaming if I have to - I have a third degree black belt in Judo. I’m not above kidnapping you and making you sleep at my place either, if you won’t tell me where you live.”

“You sound like a stalker. Fine, fine. When they call me, I’ll check up on everything and head home.”

Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose. It was impossible, arguing with him.

“I’m still coming with you. I don’t trust that tone of yours,” Annabeth stated firmly.

“Okay, _mother_.”

Annabeth rolled her eyes as Percy started munching on his cookie, before taking a long swig of his hot chocolate. Smacking his lips, he leaned closer to look what she was working on.

“Nice drawings! You’re allowed to work from home?”

“Yup. I come out here to work on days I don’t go to the firm. Helps me draw.”

“Hm. Can’t focus at home?”

“Nope, besides, Piper comes home and starts bothering me at around 5 while my work hours usually just go until I’m burned out for the day, so it’s just better to be home when I’m not planning on doing any work.”

“So, you don’t work normal hours either. Why are you lecturing me?”

“Because I know when to stop, and when I can keep working. I may work more than 40 hours a week, but I spend them productively. Unlike a certain someone…”

“Blah, blah, blah. Annabeth Chase, the record breaker. Just like me…”

He instantly stopped talking after that, the smile on his face being wiped off, being replaced with a blank stare at his beverage. Annabeth noticed - was there another meaning to that?

“What do you mean, _record breaker_?”

“Oh, nothing. Your hours compared to a normal person’s, haha!”

His laughter was suspicious. She dropped the matter at first, although she started racking her brains, remembering that Percy was a mystery she wasn’t quite able to solve in the past couple of weeks yet. Her stormy grey eyes scanning his skittish yet exhausted face, what about him was familiar…?

_Record breaker…_

And finally, she connected the dots. How did she not recognize the guy in front of her, all this time? A quick google search of his name probably would’ve yielded what she was looking for. No wonder she was attracted to him from the start - her crush on the guy started just under ten years ago, when she saw his picture for the first time back in high school. Back then, it was nothing but a _I think he looks cute_ assessment. Now though…

“Holy shit - you swam competitively! The next Phelps from Goode! You nearly broke every national record in your age bracket in high school! Piper was friends with a guy like _you_?” Annabeth demanded, eyes lighting up.

Percy looked bewildered, and even a little shy at her words.

“How the hell- actually, I shouldn’t be surprised that you realized. It’s you, after all. Cat’s out of the bag, huh? Crazy how nearly everyone doesn’t know who I am anymore. Not that I mind, it’s nice not being bugged. Piper only met me through Jason - I was a loser in school until I began swimming, you know.”

Annabeth wasn’t sure if the momentary flash of wistfulness at mentioning his cousin’s name actually happened or was just her imagination. It would make sense though, Percy and Jason were raised like brothers, from what she learned. Annabeth decided to change the subject, for his sake.

“Wait, then why did you retire? I remember it was for a private issue, but the media only speculated…”

It was the wrong subject to change to. Percy shifted a little uncomfortably.

“Oh, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to! Just curious as a former fan, and whatnot,” Annabeth hastily scrambled, trying to defuse the situation.

“Nah, I’ll spill. It was a health issue actually - there were complications with my spine that arose at the small of my back just before I was about to go pro after graduating high school. Didn’t help that I tore my achilles at a similar time either. Doc told me that I’d be fine doing normal exercise in a year, but any training at an olympic level would destroy my body down the line. And so I stopped - I could’ve competed, but I probably wouldn’t be able to do half the work I do today if I did.”

He laughed at the end, and there was a small tinge of bitterness there. Annabeth felt awful for the poor guy. She couldn’t even empathize with him without making it seem patronizing, since she had no clue what it was like to have to sacrifice a dream to save another.

“Do you enjoy your current work, though?”

“Oh, absolutely! I’m still allowed to swim, just not for crazy distances, so I can still fulfill that when I have to dive into exhibition pools to get a closer look at something, or when I help out the aquarists. In fact, I think I’d genuinely be depressed if it was the opposite - if I competed but wasn't able to do my work today. A trophy or medals can’t help me impact the lives of these animals, if I can’t even move properly later on in my life. A small part of me wishes I got to do both, though.”

“Well, it’s best not to dwell on _has-beens and what-ifs_ , and appreciate what you have in the present, but I think you already know that, don’t you?”

“Preach, sis. It is what it is, unfortunately. I’d choose this timeline every single time over the opposite if I had to pick one.”

He leaned back in his seat, and finishing up his hot chocolate with an _ahh_. Annabeth shook her head and smiled, going back to her concept sketches. She gained a newfound admiration of him, to be able to make that sacrifice. Doubly so since he chose the animals over fame.

She heard a buzzing noise originating from his direction. Percy pulled out his phone, answering the call.

“Y'ello. It worked? Damn, nice! I’m coming back ASAP, let’s finish this!”

Percy shoved his phone into one of his pockets, before turning to her and grinning mischievously.

“That’s your cue, chauffeur.”

“Thanks, I guess.”

Annabeth closed her laptop as she threw her drafts into a folder, before putting all of it inside of her laptop case. Percy stood up, helping her clean up her other materials. The two of them quickly exited the café and Annabeth dragged him towards her car.

Percy had fallen asleep immediately after she pulled out of the parking lot, lightly snoring, drool rolling down from his mouth. Cute.

Watching the rain fall onto the windshield of her car, Annabeth turned her head slightly to look at Percy. She couldn’t help but smile and giggle like an idiot at the man snoozing away beside her. No point in lying to herself anymore, she definitely liked him. How much, she wasn’t entirely sure.

Interestingly enough, it seemed like every time they met it was raining.

* * *

“Come on, pick up the pace, _wise girl…_ ”

“Stop calling me that, _seaweed brain_. My legs are long, but not as long as yours…”

The two of them were running through a park, getting hit by the rain. They were on their way back to Percy’s apartment after eating lunch together, deciding to take a shortcut by cutting through a local park.

The two of them had gotten close over the course of the month. They hung out together, watched movies on friday nights, met up to eat together every few days. She had gotten to know him pretty well at this point, and he knew her just as well too.

It honestly felt like they were dating, without either of them declaring it a relationship.

Annabeth was a woman of evidence. There was enough to suggest that he liked her from what she knew, like all of his family’s teasing remarks towards him when she ate at the Blofis/Jackson’s for dinner a few times, or how his mother and step-father told her to come over more often, or the fact that he seemed to go out of his way to make time for her on the weekends. Not to mention how much they’ve started teasing each other in past few weeks. Annabeth decided she would make a move by the end of today, if the _seaweed brain_ wouldn’t.

“Don’t you exercise? Or run track in high school? What happened?” Percy smirked.

“I ran long distance. Besides, yoga and martial arts don’t really help with _sprinting speed_ …” Annabeth snarked back.

“Hm, endurance? Shame you don’t want to swim with me. I’ll let you pet some of the baby seals too, if you do.”

“Tempting, but no. Maybe one day, you’ll get to see me in a modest one-piece.”

Surprisingly, he stopped running suddenly after that comment. Annabeth hit the brakes too, stopping right beside him. The two of them were standing in front of a playground, which was completely deserted due to the weather. Annabeth initially thought she may have gone a bit too far with that provocative statement, but he seemed more like he was pondering something, with the scrunched-up eyebrows he had on his face.

“Hey, can I ask you a question? Don’t judge me, please.”

“Sure, go for it.”

“I’m confused. What exactly is between us? I mean, I dunno if what we have right now is friendship, or a relationship, or somewhere in between, with all of the flirting we’ve done in the past month…” Percy trailed off, uncertain.

Annabeth giggled. Well, looks like he wasn’t completely oblivious to their banter, bless his heart. It was about time he spoke up, anyways.

Who would’ve thought that she would’ve met and talked to a guy she thought was _hot_ from high school later on in her life? Not that she cared about his history, she liked Percy for being Percy. Not the former athlete, but the dorky, hilarious, kindhearted man with the infectious laugh. The guy who loved marine life so much that he chose them over glory and money.

A new beginning. She absolutely saw a future with him, in spite of all of his _seaweed brain_ tendencies. Perhaps it was time to give her heart away to someone, again. Hopefully, he would keep it.

“Close your eyes, _seaweed brain_.”

Before he could react, Annabeth grabbed his face and pulled Percy in for a kiss, while the rain gently fell in the park. It was perfect - his lips, the setting, the feeling of the rain hitting her, everything.

And as their lips parted, the two of them started grinning like idiots at each other.

“Does this mean I’ll get to see you in a bikini?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

Both of them shared a laugh together, before going in for another kiss. And the only thing on Annabeth’s mind as their lips met once more was that she hoped everyday would have rain, if it meant everyday could be like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Took a trip down memory lane writing this, throwback to when percabeth was otp.
> 
> Hope I did this pair justice! My ten year old self would never forgive me if I didn't lol


End file.
